La Moskitia
Trip Start
Apr 12, 2009
1
10
19
Trip End
Jun 02, 2009
Brus Laguna, Honduras
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
In batalla we took an small boat that took us along lakes and water channels to Rais-Ta, an small village between the caribean see and the Ibans lake.
The problem in la Moskitia is that the things prepared for turists are very expensive (petrol is also expensive there, so is quite normal the price). The problem is that they don't want to inform you if you want to do something by yourself. Sometimes you could fing somebody who is driving in the same direction and tgo with him, but we felt it was like a "secta", they want tourist to pay "as tourists' and they get angry if somebody offers you something cheaper. They also don't inform you about their normal transport, and try to make you believe there is no other way of traveling as paying so much. It is not like that, but anyhow it is not easy to make so much there if you have few money and few time. Maybe La Moskitia is more for bigger groups (4/6 people) who can share the expensive "touristical prices", or for people with more time who can in the end discover the "secret ways" : )
We could not pay what they were asking for, so we make no trip there. We went walking from RaispTa till Rio Platano one day, and in the oppisite way till Ibans the day after. It was very nice. I found averything so beautiful there, the people are really friendly (appart from that ones involved in tourism), the kids were all more impresed for us as we were for all what we were seeing. Chickens, cows, dogs, horses...all were walking everywhere. As we were coming back from Rio Platano on the first day, two goys started speaking with us. The one that spoke to me was a teacher in a village near there. He took us to the school and we knew another teacher there. The last one told us he had a sister living in Brus Laguna, where we we going the day after that, so he gave us the direction and a letter in Miskito for her. He dind't told us what was written in there, but we suposed he was telling her to let us stay in her house. The both of them were very friendly. i was even thinking of ataying there and marry the first one (as he asked me) till he said he was such a god believe.
We started playing "conecta 4" with a girsl from the shop. Then it started to rain and they invited us inside. All kinds run after us. They invited us to dronk and in the end, the son of the owner taook Amelia "to dance" and the girl told me" we also go". Go...where??Then they took us to a "disco" in the back of the shop!! It was so unexpected. And, as we were there dancing...the boat came to pick us : ) We run and all kids run after us. We took the boat, went to the hotel to pick up our staff and made our way between lakes and waterchannels, at night, direction Brus Laguna...so incredible that way at night, with full moon : )
That nisght we slept in a hostel, but the day after we wnet to the house of the sister of that teacher. We said thanks for the letter and we went and sat down at the door entrance, waiting till she reads the letter and maybe tell us to come inside. And so it was. She offered us a bed, some water, a coconut, she invited us to eat (afterwards she cahnged her mind and told us about a restaurant) and asked her nephew to take us the day after by car to a river to make a walk. He oferred himself to take us in a boat that afternoon to see some cows. But, all of that converted in "shit", I still don't understand how. We think that the people in the village where angry because they were giving us for free what we "should" pay for. In fact, all of them were askying us why we didn't came in a touristical boat, why we were not sataying in a hostel, where we were staying and so on (it is a village that...they can called it city if they want to but it is not). That afternoon we went in the end to see that cows but the man (who had small legs, "wlaking like a ducky", as a drunk mun told us...but he could ride a bike) was not so happy and willing to help us as in the morning. That night I got ill, but really really ill. My body wanted to get empty and I thought I would die. The house had no toilet, just a very smelly "letrina", which in any case I had no time to use, as I was very very ill. I won't give disgusting details about that night, it was just the worts place in the whole travel in which I could have got ill. Anyhow the woman was very kind and she tried to help me and she was getting up each time that she heard the door in order to help me (till I left it open in oreder to disturb she any more). In the morning I was already ok...with null energy but ok. But everything had changed. The woman was not friendy anymore and she ask us 100 lempiras for bla bla... (anyhow half what we would have paid in a hotel) and the man didn't told us bye and didn't look at us because he said he would came later to the lake, before we take the boat. But we left later as expected and anyhow we hadn't come. I really don't understand what for horrible we did. Na gut!!
I bought two cokes and I was already feeling much stronger. The boat was very confortable and again we were driving between lakes and channels. The second boat was not so nice. The nature was great, but I wanted to kick the stupid who was driving!!! First, he had no idea how to put the motor, so we lost half an hour, and then he wanted to recover it by drining very fast in a lake full of waves. I thought the ship would capsize, and I had a horrible pain in my bottom for 3 days!!!
That night we slept in Puerto Lempira. We had few money are were thinking in going to a bank but the bank was closed are there was no cash dispenser!!!Horrorrrr!!! Waht could ge do??? A man offered us to sleep at his place, but he was drunk and interested in me and after that nisght in the house where averybody hated us I didn't want to...so we decided us for a hotel. A man who was interested in Amelia (I think they had decided which one should be for which one, as they were friends) offered us to pay the hotel but we didn't want to. He insisted at least in offering a dinner and we accepted (he was nice and friendly and no drunk), but with the condition of not going with the other one, what made him also happy. I think he wanted to make the cool boy who goes with the "giris". He invited us to drink and to a disco. But I was still not feeling completely recovered for the "dying night" and we went home early...so he did not get too much "fame" as cool tip.
The day after shoudn't be any car to leimus (the border) but we were lucky and it was one. In fact, in the end there was too much people going there and we took a bigger truck. We had the money to pay it and to reach afterwards the next city in the border. Not any more to sleep there or to get to Puerto cabezas, where we could go to a bank. But we had no option, so we went.
The way was so bad that we could not stay on the wood banks and we were lying down on the ground the baggages or between them. In that truck Amelia spoke to a man who offered to help us with our money problem. And after driving in that trial of road we came to the "impassable" border (see picture...if we upload it : )
